This invention relates generally to cleat assemblies configured for releasable securement to pedals for bicycles and the like, and, more particularly, to a shoe sole mounting standard for use with such cleat assemblies.
Cleat assemblies of this particular kind typically include a spring housing and an overlaying bottom plate configured to be attached to the sole of a user's shoe. The spring housing and bottom plate, together, define a central opening sized and configured to conformably receive a pedal. The spring housing supports one or more spring clips adjacent to the central opening, for engaging and releasably retaining the pedal.
In the past, shoe soles for use with cleat assemblies of this particular kind typically included either a three-hole or four-hole mounting standard for mounting the cleat assembly onto the shoe sole. The three-hole mounting standard was curved from front to back, following the typical curvature of a shoe sole. One of the mounting holes was positioned at a forward end of the mounting standard. The other two mounting holes were positioned at a rearward end of the mounting standard.
A problem with the curved, three-hole mounting standard was that the three cleat mounting holes were poorly placed relative to the axis of the pedal. The poor placement of the mounting holes and the curvature of the mounting standard required the use of a thick adapter plate to accommodate certain cleat assemblies, such as the cleat assemblies disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0110294. The thick adapter plate, positioned between the mounting standard and the cleat assembly, added weight to the user's shoe and prevented the pedal from being positioned as close as possible to the shoe sole. As a result, the three-hole mounting standard was not an optimal design for power transfer from the user's foot to the pedal.
The four-hole mounting standard had a planar cleat contact area and an internal four-hole fastening plate for fastening the cleat assembly onto the shoe sole. The mounting holes in the shoe sole were configured as elongated slots extending lengthwise on a portion of the sole. The internal four-hole fastening plate was a one-piece steel backing plate inside the shoe having four threaded holes to receive the four screws that attached the cleat assembly to the shoe sole. The elongated mounting holes in the shoe sole allowed the user to adjust the internal four-hole fastening plate (and thus the cleat assembly itself) forward and rearward with respect to the shoe sole.
The pedal thus contacted an area centered or “nesting” within the four-hole pattern. Hence, the mounting hardware of the four-hole design was more optimally positioned “out of the way,” in front of and behind the pedal, rather than above it. The four-hole design allowed the cleat to be positioned closer to the foot, because the mounting hardware was not in the way.
A problem with the four-hole mounting standard was that, because the support surface on the shoe sole for the cleat assembly was planar, the distance between the cleat assembly and the user's foot increased as the cleat assembly was moved forward or rearward with respect to the center of the mounting standard. This increased the distance between the pedal and the user's foot. As the distance between the foot and the pedal increased, power transmission from the foot to the pedal suffered. The increased distance also made the cleat “taller” and harder to walk on. Additionally, because the internal four-hole fastening plate was a single piece of metal and was limited in movement to the forward and rearward directions, the cleat assembly could not be pivoted with respect to the shoe sole for rotational adjustment.
It should be appreciated from the foregoing description that there is a need for an improved mounting standard that overcomes the drawbacks discussed above. Specifically, there is a need for a mounting standard that avoids the need to use a thick adapter plate that increases the distance between the user's foot and the pedal. Further, there is a need for a mounting standard that avoids the problem whereby the distance between the cleat assembly and the user's foot is increased as the cleat assembly is moved forward or rearward with respect to the center of the mounting standard. Further, there is a need for a mounting standard that allows the cleat assembly to be pivoted with respect to the shoe sole. The present invention satisfies these needs and provides further related advantages.